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McCain Denies Senator’s Account of 1987 Meeting

By Elisabeth Bumiller July 2, 2008 7:20 pmJuly 2, 2008 7:20 pm

MEXICO CITY — Senator John McCain Tuesday denied a recollection from Senator Thad Cochran, Republican of Mississippi, that he had roughly grabbed an associate of President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and lifted him out of his chair during a trip to Central America in 1987.
“McCain was down at the end of the table and we were talking to the head of the guerrilla group here at this end of the table and I don’t know what attracted my attention,’’ Mr. Cochran said in an interview with the Sun Herald in Biloxi, Miss.
“But I saw some kind of quick movement at the bottom of the table and I looked down there and John had reached over and grabbed this guy by the shirt collar and had snatched him up like he was throwing him up out of the chair to tell him what he thought about him or whatever.’’

Mr. Cochran, who has spoken about Mr. McCain’s temper in the past, added, according to the newspaper: “I don’t know what he was telling him but I thought, ‘Good grief, everybody around here has got guns and we were there on a diplomatic mission.’ I don’t know what had happened to provoke John, but he obviously got mad at the guy.’’

Asked about Mr. Cochran’s remarks Mr. McCain told reporters at a news conference in Cartagena, Colombia, “It’s simply not true,’’ although he acknowledged, “I must say, I did not admire the Sandinistas.’’ Then he added, “There was never anything of that nature and it just didn’t happen.’’

Mr. Cochran, who had endorsed Mitt Romney during the Republican primary, said during the the Sun Herald interview he now supports Mr. McCain.

Sen Cochran has always found Mr McCain difficult to work with. Why he would say such a thing during a campaign I don’t know but one thing for sure, it was not partisan rancor. Your denial, Mr McCain, is hard to accept.

Were this the only incident of McCain manifesting his temper (or one of a scant few), I would probably shrug it off and say to my fellow Dems to leave him alone. However, there seem to be many incidents over the years that demonstrate his infamous temper.

Is this a trait we want in a President, especially during a crisis? I haven’t quite sorted this out in my mind, but I would certainly prefer someone who is even tempered than someone who is hot and cold.

McCain’s temper and impulsivity are well-known. Just the qualities we want in a president.

Best guess is that he went through much of his life with an enormous sense of entitlement associated with his father’s position, and then was mentally and emotionally scarred by five years in a POW camp. While it’s unfortunate, America doesn’t need this kind of disability in the White House.

At 71, you have an advantage. You can deny a recollection of anything not in your favor, or claim recollection of something in your favor. Alzheimer’s, real or not, only straight talk knows it has a plus side.

So NYT is taking up an old story with their source being a man who is clearly anti-McCain and recycling it to help Obama distract attention from his hiring Wesley Clark to belittle McCain’s military record. Very unbiased. Nice work. Axelrod will be very pleased.

“This minor incident is blown completely out of proportion. Next it will be likened to WWII. Keep things in perspective.”

I mean, it’s not exactly the London Blitz, but I don’t mind people paying attention to a presidential candidate’s apparent anger management problems. If anyone want to get riled up about vacuous campaign reporting, I’ve got two words for you: fist jab.

steve pesce, with your exquisite sense of fairness, did you ever complain about stale news when the dittoheads were trumpeting Obama’s non-existent relationship with Ayers and Dohrn? I’m confident you would be even handed, but somehow it’s slipped my mind……

McCain’s temper does not bother me, nor do I believe it is an issue regarding his ability to handle the presidency. His detractors want it to appear as though McCain blows his stack and will cause nothing but war.

Neither McCain nor Obama will get my vote. I signed up with Nader and contributed to his campaign. The two-party system is a failure. My state is somewhat in play. Nader cannnot win, but in good conscience, I cannot vote for either of these two cons.

Except, of course, that’s not what Clark did, not at all. But why let the facts get in your way? Just keep repeating this until you believe it, Steve, then about a million times more and maybe a dozen other people will fall for it too.

Even though I am a registered Democrat, I still believe it is inappropriate to post a story like this and not mention that John McCain is unable to lift either arm above shoulder height due to injuries sustained as a POW. Now, one more time, read through Mr. Cochran’s words, something doesn’t quite fit. Do your homework.

Maybe Senator Obama can find those extra states after he comes back from the Middle East, assuming he can find the Middle East in the first place.

By the way, does anyone know how long Senator Obama is going to be in Tehran, visiting with Ahmadinejad? Remember…Senator Obama said he’d sit down with the heads of rogue states WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS. So, he doesn’t even have to wait to see if he even becomes President of the United States, because that would be a PRECONDITION. He can go over there right now, WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS.

Hopefully, he’ll send postcards from Iran and Syria that you can read while singing: “Kumbaya!”

McCain is the chairman of the International Republican Institute that is currently giving pep-talks to the underclass (indian) of Bolivia stating that “you too can climb up in the pyramid”
while helping the eastern province whites make off with the oil wealth. The institute has been busy all these years protecting the oligarchs in Haiti, Azerbaijan and elsewhere where “free enterprise” is in danger. Got to protect the brethren, can’t let the little people get too uppity.
That could explain his action in Nicaragua..
It’s hereditary, just like his pilot’s wings
(even though he was at the bottom of his class).

It’s Cochran’s judgement that should be questioned here. Cochran said McCain sent a “cold chill down my spine” in January but he says “now McCain is levelheaded”?
—

Jim Geraghty’s advice to the GOP:

I know, I know, we’re supposed to be gasping at the thought of a U.S. senator roughly grabbing a aide to a former Soviet ally and FARC-supporter, once trained as a guerrilla by Cuba. Yet somehow I get the feeling that this is the sort of anecdote that will run in both Obama attack ads and McCain bio ads. (Note to GOP: Get this Cochran story running on Miami Spanish-language television immediately.)

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